The Barometer Online

Issue date: 6/3/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jeff Wick Gymnast Mandi Rodriguez was named Female Athlete of the Year at last night's Benny Awards held in the LaSells Stewart Center.

Media Credit: Peter Strong Freshman sensation Jacquizz Rodgers ran away with Male Athlete of the Year at the Bennys. Rodgers shared Male Newcomer of the Year with Danny Mwanga of the soccer team.

From the introduction by Oregon State University President Dr. Edward Ray, to the closing remarks made by the familiar voice of baseball in-game announcer and MC Brian Brooks, the eleventh annual Bennys Award Ceremony was energetic and filled with not only laughter, but also a great sense of school pride.

OSU has routinely boasted impressive athletic performances throughout its long tenure in the Pac-10 conference, but the Beavers of 2008-09 have made a particularly heavy impact on NCAA sports history.

17 different NCAA sports operate under the Beaver name, and this year, 12 of these teams reached the postseason, the best ratio in the country. Any school that could boast that 70 percent of its teams are still playing after the regular season could feel a justifiable sense of pride.

To put OSU's recent successes into perspective, the Pac-10 conference has been proven time and again to be the most powerful and aggressive conference in the NCAA. No conference has ever seen at least ten championships across different sports in one season, except for the Pac-10. Six times.

This year, the OSU football and softball teams led the Pac-10 in all-conference picks. Perhaps most impressive is OSU's remarkable number of student athletes with academic honors. Twenty OSU student-athletes have a GPA of 4.0, a number that again leads the nation.

The 2008-09 school year also saw the first ever tournament title for men's basketball in school history. This is particularly impressive, as OSU has the 13th winningest NCAA basketball program in the country.

The College Basketball Invitational champion team attended the award ceremony and even provided its own rendition of the now-infamous Guitar Hero III commercial.

Basketball head coach Craig Robinson, co-winner of the Coach of the Year award with football's Mike Riley, admires the work ethic of all members of his CBI championship team.

"Coaching these guys is terrific," Robinson said. "When I saw the tapes last year, I thought we might win negative games this season. But coaching these guys has just been great. They are all hardworking and a joy to teach."

Fellow coach of the year and friend Mike Riley also had uplifting words for his impressive football team, a team that infamously knocked off the No. 1 USC Trojans in front of the whole nation on ESPN.

"Our team is like a family," Riley said. "I have a tremendous staff; this award is a team award and belongs to the whole group. It has been a great year, but it is also the start of a new era in OSU football. I am proud to be part of a university that has so many good programs."

The most heavily decorated teams of the night were the men's basketball and football teams. The women's gymnastics team also took home plenty of iron, as it was named Women's Team of the Year. Freshman Leslie Mak won the Female Newcomer of the Year award, and fellow gymnast Mandi Rodriguez won the Female Athlete of the Year award.

"This is a great honor," Rodriguez said. "There is no stopping next year's team. We are going for the Pac-10 championship."

The football team also saw multiple honors at the Bennys, and there were highlights aplenty. Jacquizz Rodgers naturally made multiple trips to the stage to accept awards for himself and the football team as a whole. Rodgers won the Male Athlete of the Year award.

The closing video presentation contained five minutes of highlights from all OSU sports programs. The video relived moments during the football's infamous victory over the Trojans, the star-studded women's gymnastics team and its awesome season, and monster slam dunks by the CBI champion men's basketball team.

Overall, the entire OSU athletic program has had a remarkable year. The 2008-09 sports season witnessed stellar individual performances, powerful team play and excellent coaching. This year will be one to remember.

John Daly, sports writer
sports@dailybarometer.com



The Bennys:

Male Athlete of the Year
Jacquizz Rodgers - Football

Female Athlete of the Year
Mandi Rodriguez - Gymnastics

Male Newcomer of the Year
Jacquizz Rodgers - Football
Danny Mwanga - Soccer

Female Newcomer of the Year
Leslie Mak - Gymnastics

Male Performance of the Year
Football - 2008 Season

Female Performance of the Year
Talisa Rhea - Basketball

Male Sport Coach of the Year
Craig Robinson - Basketball
Mike Riley - Football

Female Sport Coach of the Year
Emily Ford - Rowing

Male Team of the Year
Football

Female Team of the Year
Gymnastics

Robert Byers Spirit Award
Men's Basketball

Glen Klein Community Service Awards
Jane Ivey - Rowing
David Weir - Rowing
Taylor Kavanaugh - Football

Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Award
Bud Gienger

All-Americans
Saori Haruguchi - Swimming
Tasha Smith - Gymnastics
Jacquizz Rodgers - Football
Andy Levitre - Football
Jami Lanz - Gymnastics
Jen Kesler - Gymnastics
Mandi Rodriguez - Gymnastics
Rachel Rourke - Volleyball
Heinrich Barnes - Wrestling

Scholar Athletes of the Year
D'Anna Piro - Gymnastics
Lorene Young - Track
Hayley Oveson - Track
Melissa Penwell - Rowing
Jane Ivey - Rowing
Jon Young - Rowing
Ginny Omundson - Swimming
Katelyn Van Brunt - Track
Tyler Simpson - Golf
Tim Kelly - Soccer
Kelly Dyer - Softball
Alex Williams - Golf
Daniel Leach - Soccer
Claire Pierce - Gymnastics
Brett Gardner - Soccer
Johnnie Rae Schmelzer - Gymnastics
Ashley Wood - Soccer

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